


let's stop running from love;

by mevies



Category: Descendants (2015), Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: BITCH I'M BACK!, F/F, ahhh the self doubt, been a hot minute huh, but i wanted to pull through, mentions of uma/harry, not my favorite but it's kinda cute? i guess?, this took me so long to finish and it's so like. small and not Great
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2019-03-16 08:20:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13632405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mevies/pseuds/mevies
Summary: Mal, not surprisingly, doesn't know what's going on. Everyone else does, though.or, the 'why do you kiss me all the time' and the 'you don't know this but we're dating' aus mashed-up into one messy one-shot.





	let's stop running from love;

**Author's Note:**

> Helloooo, it's been a moment but I'm back. I don't know how I feel about this one though, like, I don't hate it but it's not my favorite? I hope you guys like it, though.
> 
> Also! This was kinda inspired by My My My! by Troye and those two AUs I mentioned in the summary. Hopefully it'll make sense to someone else that isn't me. The disclaimer, as usual, is that I don't own these characters, 'cause if I did the girls would interact way more.

The first time Evie did it, Mal didn’t really know what to make of it. She had, ultimately, written it off as some sort of sleepy haze or malfunction, but when it happened she’d had to control her breathing for several minutes, staring at her sleeping best friend’s face in complete and utter shock, thankful that the girl had been sleeping otherwise she’d see the red gracing Mal’s pale cheeks.

They were cuddled in Mal’s bed – Evie had claimed a long time ago that Mal’s bed was far comfier than her own and sharing her bed with the brunette had become a habit. Evie more often than not could be found in Mal and Uma’s dorm room instead of her own that she shared with Audrey, usually cuddled up to the blonde and taking a nap or just watching whatever reality show she was obsessed with that month on her laptop.

But back to what Evie did.

Mal was trying to move from their current position – Evie had been hugging her from behind, her lips really close to her ear, and like. Not that Mal had any problems with _that,_ but this was, in fact, a little awkward and a little nerve-wrecking and very much hyperventilation-inducing, so Mal had tried to change their positions so the flush in Mal’s face caused by the way Evie’s breath tickled her and she could literally _feel_ the other girl breathing on her back would dissipate, and Evie had groaned and complained, squeezing Mal tight to keep her in place.

Mal stilled her movements, and Evie let out a contented sigh, and then it happened.

She planted one on her – well, not on the lips, but pretty close to them. Like, right on the corner. In a way that left it pretty clear what her original target was.

But the Latina didn’t say a word, returning to her slumber once Mal had stopped moving – because she was in complete shock, mind you – and Mal stared at the girl, her eyes wide.

Evie remained asleep.

-

The second time, she’d written it off as just Evie being too overjoyed and hyped over their school’s team winning and the fact that she _was_ a cheerleader so it was kind of her thing to be too wired in the cheerfulness of things to really be able to control her emotions or what she was doing.

After Jay had scored the winning goal and the students of Auradon cheered wildly, Mal had run down the bleachers towards the cheerleading team to greet her friends and Evie had jumped her – literally – as soon as she saw the blonde girl approaching and yelled in the girl’s ears about their victory.

Mal couldn’t help but smile, because Evie looked insanely pretty when she was like this – eyes bright, face flushed, wide smile and a little breathless. And it made Mal feel a little breathless too.

“We won, M! We _won_!” She cheered, her arms around Mal’s neck and Mal’s arms around her waist. Before Mal could say anything, Evie leaned her face in towards Mal’s and gave her a loud smack on her mouth. “I’m so happy!”

The blonde tried her hardest not to blush; her heart was beating hard against her ribcage and she felt like her lungs were giving out. She avoided eye contact with the brunette, who, on the other hand, looked like she was not overthinking her actions at all, having resumed jumping around and screaming happily.

Audrey had been watching them, apparently, because when Mal met her eyes the girl only gave her a small sympathetic smile and walked over.

“You know, you’re kinda slow.” Audrey commented before pulling Evie with her to congratulate the boys.

Mal watched them go with a confused frown, not exactly understanding what any of that meant. She spent the rest of the night – and the weekend and the week after that – trying to figure it out.

(She failed.)

-

The next two times, Mal thinks that she can’t quite write them off as accidents.

They had made plans to meet at the coffee shop next to campus – nothing new there. They frequented said coffee shop fairly often, either with more people or just the two of them. This time, it was the latter.

Mal had been waiting for the other girl to show up outside of the coffee shop, her small frame engulfed in an oversized sweatshirt with the school’s name printed in the front. It was one of the rare days where the sun hadn’t come out and the weather was pretty chilly, making Mal’s usually pale cheeks a little rosy as she tried her best to keep herself warmed up.

“Oh my God, you look so cute and soft,” She heard from her right, and before she could reply or really greet Evie, the girl had grabbed her by the shoulders and landed a loud peck on her lips, quickly moving away and grinning widely at her. “Is that my sweatshirt?”

“Yeah, you left it in my room.” Mal responded, completely red in the face from the kiss and from being caught wearing the other girl’s clothes.  Evie seemed to find great joy in this, her grin becoming a full-on open mouthed smile.

‘”You look great in my clothes.” She winked, and Mal, if that was even possible, blushed more. “Shall we go in?”

Mal nodded dumbly in agreement and both girls walked into the coffee shop.

The fourth time was an hour later from the third. After staying inside the shop for an entire hour, the girls had decided it was time to part ways – Evie had an assignment to take care of and had asked Mal to walk her back to her dorm. Mal had complied, and both girls walked hand-in-hand toward the girl’s dorm room.

And as they stood outside of Evie’s dorm room minutes later, it had happened again.

Evie had said, “Thank you for walking me, M,” and Mal had given her a nod and a smile, and then Evie had leaned in again and pecked her on the lips.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” She said, giving Mal a smile, and before Mal could say anything, she’d walked into her room.

Mal stood outside the girl’s room for a while after that, staring dumbly at the door and she’d realized then that maybe the pecks were intentional. Evie fully meant them.

But like.

_Why?_

-

It had become part of their routine, it happened all the time now – as a greeting, as a goodbye, following a compliment, as ‘thank you’, or just out of nowhere, really – and Mal really didn’t know what was going on. It wasn’t like it was any news that Evie was affectionate – quite the opposite, really. It was a known fact in between their group. Evie loved to reassure her friends of their friendship and her affection towards them through sweet words and gestures, but.

But Mal doesn’t think any of their friends had the pleasure of being on the receiving end of Evie’s spontaneous pecks.

(At least she hopes so.)

-

That was confirmed about a week later.

They were leaving a party, and Evie was more than a little tipsy and going around the room saying her goodbyes to their friends as Mal watched her from the door, holding Evie’s jacket in her hands. She’d give them a hug and a huge smile, but her lips would stay to herself. Mal was about to start wondering if it was reserved for best friends only when Evie reached Audrey and only gave her a hug and they giggled about something together.

Evie then turned towards her with a big, drunken smile and walked towards her, grabbing her coat from her hands and nodding towards the door. “Shall we?”

Mal nodded. She’d already said her goodbyes to the ones who mattered – read: she sent Uma a text saying she was leaving -, so she’d just been waiting for Miss Social Interactions finish her goodbyes so they could leave.

Mal led a tipsy Evie to her car, nudging the brunette gently into the passenger seat and helping her with the seatbelt.

As she started the car, she turned the radio on to play softly as a background noise out of habit and jumped when Evie squealed and immediately turned up the volume as a song she vaguely recognized moved to its pre-chorus.

“I _love_ this song!” She screamed, and Mal watched in amusement as the girl stuck her head out the window, her brown hair flying wildly as she yelled the lyrics at the wind and the eerily empty streets.

“Babe, it’s late. You can’t yell like that,” Mal said, only mildly wincing as the term of endearment slipped out naturally. She figured it didn’t matter, because Evie was drunk and was most likely not going to remember this in the morning. “You’re disrupting an entire neighborhood.”

Of course, just as she said this, the chorus started once again, and: _“Oh my my my! I die every night with you! Oh my my my! Living for your every move!”_

Mal chuckled and brought her free hand towards Evie’s back, and the girl giggled and sat back, giving Mal her full attention, “You’re being too loud, babe.”

Evie pouted, but still continued singing along to the song. And Mal couldn’t help her next action. She took her hand to Evie’s face and pulled her close, planting a quick peck on the girl’s lips. She turned her attention back towards the road quickly after that, but she could feel Evie’s eyes on her as she drove.

Mal couldn’t help her grin, though, once Evie restarted her singing, but this time a little quieter.

-

“So we’re gonna talk about it or not?”

“Talk about what?” Mal huffed out, trying to figure out how to keep running as she talked. She could hear Uma’s eye roll from her right.

“I don’t know, maybe why you dragged Harry and I at ass-crack in the morning to go for a run? And, by the way, I didn’t even know you knew what running was.”

“No one told you to bring Harry.” Mal chose to address first, hearing an offended ‘hey!’ from her far right.

“True, but he’s my man candy, so he has to come everywhere I go so people know I’m hittin’ that.” Uma said, her voice not even wavering as she ran. (Mal didn’t know how she did that.)

“I feel objectified.” Harry grumbled, and Mal chuckled as Uma shot him a wink and a kiss before turning back to her.

“Now out with it, Bertha.”

Mal glared for a moment, but once it was clear that Uma was not going to waver, she slowed her run to jogging and Uma and Harry did the same. “Okay, so. You know Evie?”

Uma blinked. “I’m familiar, yeah. What about you, Harry?”

Harry made a thinking face and rubbed his chin as he hummed, “I think I’ve heard the name.”

Mal rolled her eyes, “You’re both assholes, forget it.”

“No, _c’mon_! We’ll behave, I promise.” Harry laughed, and Uma shook her head subtly as if to tell her she made no such promise. Mal rolled her eyes (yes, _again,_ Uma just brought it out on her) but took a deep breath before continuing.

“So, it’s her birthday next week, right? And I’ve been thinking about like, doing something nice for her? Maybe a surprise party or something? But I’m not great with planning, and I should probably like, talk to Audrey or something, but I don’t actually have her number and when I tried to get it from Evie, she got so happy because she thought I was trying to reach out to her other best friend or something and she kissed me-“

“Evie did _what?!”_ Uma interrupted, her eyes wide. Beside her, Harry gaped at Mal.

Mal didn’t know what was going on, but decided to continue, “Yeah, and then she just got so excited she kinda forgot to give me Audrey’s numb-“

“Mal, shut the fuck up. She kissed you.” Uma spit out, and Mal was confused to see that her best friend looked angry at her. _What was going on?_ “So you get a girlfriend and you don’t tell your _fucking_ best friend-“

“She kissed you! She actually did it!” Harry talked excitedly at the same time as Uma, “God, it finally happened! I’m so happy-“

“I swear to God I’ll beat you up right now, Mal. I’ll fucking murder you. Actually, I’m burying you alive and everyone’s gonna know what happens when you don’t tell your best friend _shit_ -“

“This is so great, this is literally the best news I’ve had this entire week. God, I know how long you both have been pining for each other-“

“I know you’re an emotionally stunted bitch but this is too much-“

“How did it happen? How did you two get together? Was there a grand gesture? Please tell me there was a grand gest-“

“Guys! Stop!” Mal cried out, finally, putting their words to a halt. She looked at them confusedly, “What in the god damn hell are you two talking about? Evie and I aren’t together.”

Uma and Harry looked at each other confusedly and then back at Mal. “Did you not just say she kissed you?” Harry asked, “On the lips, right?”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t mean anything. She does it with all her friends and like, everyone.”

“No, she doesn’t? I’ve never been on the end of one of her pecks, and I’m certain neither as Audrey, unless there’s something she’s not telling me.” Harry then turned to Uma, “What about you?”

Uma shook her head before she continued, “A peck, or a kiss on the lips is like, romance. It’s more intimate than sex.”

Mal gave a dubious look, but she continued, “I’m serious, bitch! Hookers don’t kiss on the lips. Also, have you never seen those friends with benefits movies? They didn’t kiss, just had sex.”

“Pretty sure they kissed in those.”

“Shut up, Mal, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Um, yeah, I do. I watched those movies with you –“

“Just forget about the damn movies!” Uma snapped, and Mal closed her mouth. Her best friend took a deep breath before continuing, her tone calmer, “My point is, no one just throws those kinda kisses around, especially not Evie. Sure, she hugs everyone a lot and loves everything, but she doesn’t just kiss people for no reason.”

And then, as if to reinforce her point, she grabbed Harry by the front of his shirt and pulled him down for a quick peck, just the way Mal knew Evie did it. Harry drew back with a small grin. “That’s a peck between people who are in love. I love him and he loves me, and I’m not about to peck anyone else that’s not him.”

“Neither am I.” Harry nodded, pulling Uma closer to him by the waist. “We are a couple and we peck because that’s what couples do.”

Mal gaped at them, and her friends stared at her intently until their point got across the blonde’s rapidly spinning brain. Everything was clicking – deep down, Mal knew that Evie reserved those pecks for her, she’d seen it, she’d proved it to herself. But then again, why would Evie, _bigger-than-the-world Evie_ , ever feel the same towards Mal? It just didn’t make any sense.

“No,” Mal breathed out, more to herself than to anyone else, “We’re just friends.”

“Harry, talk to her before I hurt her.” Uma shook her head, face palming. Mal had half a mind to send her a glare. Harry sighed but complied.

“Mal, Evie’s obsessed with you.” He said slowly, as if talking to a child, “Like, I’m pretty sure she thinks you’re already dating, if those pecks you speak of are anything to go by. You’re literally all she talks about.”

“But-“

“Mal, that girl’s been planning your future together ten years from now. She’s probably already picked your kids’ names. She’s clearly in love with you, God knows why, because you’re like dumb as shit and even though I’ve known you since I was a kid I’m still not convinced you’re actually human ‘cause you’re so _dense_ -“

“She loves you, bottom line.” Harry interrupts his girlfriend, knowing that she could go on with her rant for another ten minutes if not interrupted and that Mal needed to be reassured, not insulted.

“She loves me.” Mal repeats, trying to make a sense of the words.

“Yeah, she really does.”

“She loves me back?” She asks dumbly, needing that extra reassurance, and Harry grins.

“Yeah, Mal. She does.” Uma nods, her tone kinder this time.

Mal allows herself to smile.

_Evie loves her._

-

Mal burst the door open, walking in with a literal bang as the door smashed on the wall, and Evie jumped from where she sat working on a clothing design.

“Mal, what the hell –“

“You kiss me.”

Evie gaped.

“You kiss me all the time,” Mal continues, flushed, “You give me pecks for everything and anything.”

Mal knew she kinda looked and sounded a bit crazed, and Evie was looking at her like she was alarmed, but she continued, “Uma and Harry told me you love me. That pecks are things for people who love each other. Harry said you love me, and that’s why you kiss me all the time. I thought that was just something you did.” She took a deep breath, “Uma said you like, planned our future together. Harry said you think we’re dating. Are we dating? ‘Cause like, I’m slow. I’m really slow, and Audrey even said that to me once, but like, are we dating, E? Are we girlfriends? Do you like, love me and stuff?”

Evie gaped for another few seconds before she let out a deep breath and stood from where she was sitting, walking towards Mal with a glint in her eyes. “Well, I was beginning to think I’d have to like, jump your bones for you to finally figure it out.” Evie chuckled, and Mal felt lightheaded.

“You’re really slow, M.” Evie said as she pulled Mal closer to her by the waist, “But you’re not wrong. Well, I guess Uma and Harry aren’t wrong.”

“You love me.” Mal breathed out, and Evie chuckled before nodding. To make her point clearer, she leaned in and pecked her lips, much like she’s done over the last few months. Mal grinned when Evie drew back and didn’t let her get too far, inching up and kissing her again.

“So, just to make this clear, we’re girlfriends?”

“Yes, Mal.” Evie smiled.

“Okay.”

They stood there for a moment, looking deep into each other’s eyes in complete glee before a thought crossed Mal’s mind.

“Evie?”

“Mm?”

“You named our kids already?”

A beat.

“Maybe we should have this conversation some other time.”

Another beat.

“You totally did.”

“Oh, I fully did, yeah.”

Mal laughed.

She doesn’t mind Evie’s planning ahead. If this entire situation is any proof, the girl knows what she’s doing. Mal will gladly catch up with her plans like, _eventually_.

(Don’t judge her. She’s a little slow.)

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me what you thought! Hope you guys have a great day ♥


End file.
